1,088 news posts in Featured news

Featured news

20 Apr 2023

Restoring Asia’s roar: Our plan to see tigers flourish again in historic locations

By Dr Thomas Gray, WWF Tigers Alive Initiative Image: Shutterstock.com Dr Thomas Gray is a conservation biologist and Tiger Recovery Lead at the WWF Tigers Alive Initiative. His current research focuses on the active recovery of threatened Asian species and sustainable financing for landscape-scale conservation. In this newest guest editorial, he explains how habitats from which tigers have been lost could be restored and how this may help biodiversity and landscape restoration at large. Tigers are Asia’s iconic predator and, perhaps, the most recognizable species on the planet. Tigers used to occur over vast areas of Asia: from the Black Sea of Turkey to the Korean Peninsula and south through the rainforests of south-east Asia to the islands of Java and Bali. However, as a result of centuries of persecution and habitat loss, tigers currently occur in only a tiny fraction of this historic range. More tigers, but difficult circumstances Since 2010, a ‘year of the Tiger’ under the Asian lunar calendar, there has been considerable global attention on tiger conservation. This attention appears to have reversed the decline in tiger numbers with the 2022 IUCN Red List Assessment estimating around 4,500 wild tigers remain in the world (an increase […]

Featured news

19 Apr 2023

‘Think of the teachers!’ How secondary traumatic stress, compassion fatigue, and burnout are increasingly impacting teachers

By Glenys Oberg, School of Education, University of Queensland, Australia Glenys Oberg Glenys Oberg is a PhD student and research assistant at the School of Education of the University of Queensland. A former teacher, she focuses in her research on trauma-informed pedagogy and practice. Recently, Oberg and her colleagues Annemaree Carroll and Stephanie Macmahon published a review article in Frontiers in Education, which investigated the impact on teachers of working with students who experienced trauma – an increasing problem in an age where Covid-19 and ‘climate anxiety’ threaten the mental health and wellbeing of children. In the review, Oberg et al. showed how this challenge increasingly leads to burnout in teachers, often prompting them to abandon a profession they love. As a former teacher, I can attest to the challenges that come with being an educator. The long hours, heavy workload, and responsibility of shaping young minds can take a toll on your mental and physical health. While teaching is undoubtedly a rewarding profession, it’s also a profession that requires resilience and self-care. Unfortunately, teacher burnout is becoming increasingly common globally and is a concern that needs to be addressed. Burnout is a psychological condition that can occur when chronic […]

Featured news

18 Apr 2023

Orb weaver spider glue properties evolve faster than their glue genes, scientists find

by Angharad Brewer Gillham, Frontiers science writer Image/Shutterstock.com Orb weaver spiders make the capture threads of their webs sticky with an aqueous glue made in special aggregate glands. Scientists studied different species living in different environments to see how the glue changed and found that although the glue was mostly made of the same components, the proportions of the proteins involved were different, changing the glue’s properties. Spiders that don’t weave good silk don’t get to eat. The silk spiders produce which creates their webs is key to their survival – but spiders live in many different places which require webs fine-tuned for local success. Scientists studied the glue that makes orb weaver spiders’ webs sticky to understand how its material properties vary in different conditions. “Discovering the sticky protein components of biological glues opens the doors to determining how material properties evolve,” said Dr Nadia Ayoub of Washington and Lee University, co-corresponding author of the study published in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. “Spider silk fibers and glues represent a fantastic model for answering such questions since they are primarily made of proteins and proteins are encoded by genes.” “Spider silks and glues have huge biomimetic potential,” added Dr […]

Featured news

14 Apr 2023

‘Farmer’ beetle finds suitable host trees by tracing scent of its fungus crop

By Mischa Dijkstra, Frontiers science writer Alnus ambrosia beetles (Xylosandrus germanus) in their galleries, tending the brood and fungus. Image credit: Antonio Gugliuzzo Alnus ambrosia beetles (Xylosandrus germanus) are invasive, destructive pests of trees. For the first time, ecologists have identified volatile compounds released by the beetles’ own fungal symbiont as odors that attract females to existing colonies. These chemicals could be used to trap the beetles before they infest and kill new trees. The alnus ambrosia beetle Xylosandrus germanus, also known as the black stem borer, was accidentally introduced by humans from its native east Asia to North America and Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. X. germanus is a so-called ambrosia beetle, which means that it farms its own food: a specialized fungal symbiont which it ‘sows’ and tends inside the galleries that it digs inside wood. It is a destructive invasive pest, known to attack more than 200 species from 51 families of broadleaf and conifer trees. While it prefers to colonize dead wood, it can also infest and ultimately kill weakened or stressed trees. A proven way to monitor or even control insect pests is by hijacking their communication system and manipulating it to […]

Featured news

13 Apr 2023

Coral-eating fish poo may act as ‘probiotics’ for reefs

by Angharad Brewer Gillham, Frontiers science writer Image/Shutterstock.com Coral-eating fish are thought to weaken coral reefs because they consume coral tissue, whereas grazer fish are assumed to have positive effects because they eat algae that compete with corals. However, a new study shows that feces from coral-eating fish contain bacteria that can be beneficial to corals. On the other hand, feces from grazers contain high levels of pathogens that can kill corals. Until recently, fish that eat coral — corallivores — were thought to weaken reef structures, while fish that consume algae and detritus — grazers — were thought to keep reefs healthy. But scientists have discovered that feces from grazers leave large lesions on coral, possibly because they contain coral pathogens. By contrast, feces from corallivores may provide a source of beneficial microbes that help coral thrive. “Corallivorous fish are generally regarded as harmful because they bite the corals,” said Dr Carsten Grupstra of Rice University, lead author of the study published in Frontiers in Marine Science. “But it turns out that this doesn’t tell the whole story. Corallivore feces contain many of the bacterial taxa that associate with healthy corals under normal conditions, potentially resulting in the natural […]

Featured news

12 Apr 2023

Most plastic eaten by city vultures comes straight from food outlets

By Mischa Dijkstra, Frontiers science writer Black vultures, Coragyps atratus, in the US. Image credit: Hannah Partridge Researchers have shown that black and turkey vultures in US urban areas get most of the plastic they ingest from nearby food stores and restaurants. They often seem to eat plastic unintentionally, risking their health, but in some cases may do so on purpose to induce vomiting up of other undigested foods. Since the 1950s, humanity has produced an estimated 8.3bn tons of plastic, adding a further 380m tons to this amount each year. Only 9% of this gets recycled. The inevitable result is that plastic is everywhere, from the depths of the oceans to the summit of Everest – and notoriously, inside the tissues of humans and other organisms. The long-term effects of ingested plastic on people aren’t yet known. But in rodents, ingested microplastics can impair the function of the liver, intestines, and exocrine and reproductive organs. Especially at risk of ingesting plastic are scavenging birds. For example, New World vultures regularly forage at landfills, and have been observed to leisurely pick at synthetic materials such as boat seats, rubber seals, or roofs. Read original article Download original article (PDF) Now, […]

Featured news

06 Apr 2023

Obstructive sleep apnea may directly cause early cognitive decline

By Mischa Dijkstra, Frontiers science writer Obstructive sleep apnea is a debilitating disease, which can lead to fragmented and poor sleep and daytime sleepiness Patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) often show cognitive deficits, but these have traditionally been attributed to co-morbidities. But now researchers have shown for the first time that OSA itself is sufficient to cause early cognitive decline in middle-aged non-obese men. Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a potentially dangerous condition. During sleep, the throat muscles of people with OSA relax and block the airflow into the lungs, so that they repeatedly stop breathing. Common symptoms of OSA include restless sleep, loud snoring, daytime sleepiness, and prolonged headaches in the morning – highly debilitating for patients and their partners. OSA is currently underdiagnosed: it may occur in as much as 15-30% of men and 10-15% of women, or approximately 1bn adults worldwide, of whom an estimated 80% don’t know they have it. Major risk factors for OSA include middle or old age, being obese, smoking, chronic nasal blockage, high blood pressure, and being male. Now, researchers from the UK, Germany, and Australia have shown for the first time that in middle-aged men, OSA can also cause early […]

Featured news

05 Apr 2023

How a city walk may improve your mood: Here are five Frontiers articles you won’t want to miss

By Deborah Pirchner, Frontiers science writer Image: Shutterstock.com At Frontiers, we bring some of the world’s best research to a global audience. But with tens of thousands of articles published each year, it’s impossible to cover all of them. Here are just five amazing papers you may have missed. Walking in the city might be just as good for our mood as walking in nature Time spent in urban environments is associated with depletion of cognitive resources and an increasing prevalence of mental illness. Few studies, however, have measured working memory capacity. Now, writing in Frontiers in Psychology, US researchers have compared memory performance and self-reported mood before and after a 30-minute walk in a natural or urban environment. The scientists assigned participants to either a nature or an urban condition and measured differences in self-reported affect and OPSAN, a complex measure of working memory capacity, before and after going on a walk in the respective environment. Their results showed that regardless of the setting, walkers exhibited an increase in positive affect and a decrease in negative affect, suggesting that going outside for a walk can boost mood regardless of environment type. They found, however, no significant changes in working memory […]

Featured news

04 Apr 2023

New low-cost camera could help scientists forecast volcano eruptions affecting millions

By Deborah Pirchner, Frontiers science writer Image: Shutterstock.com Monitoring emissions from volcanoes – particularly sulfur dioxide (SO2) using specialized cameras – is important for hazard forecasting. Gathering long-term time series datasets is critical because volcanoes can exhibit significant changes in activity over time. Now, researchers have developed a cheap and low-power SO2 camera suited for long-term measuring. The tool could have significant implications for millions of people worldwide who live close to active volcanoes, they say. Gas emissions are the manifestation of activity occurring beneath the surface of a volcano. Measuring them lets researchers see what can’t be seen from the surface. This knowledge is vital for hazard monitoring and the prediction of future eruptions. Since the mid-2000s, ultraviolet SO2 cameras have become important tools to measure emissions. The measurement campaigns, however, must be accompanied by a user, making SO2 cameras unsuitable for acquiring long-term datasets. Building and operating this type of camera can cost upwards of $20,000, resulting in very few cameras being installed permanently. To get better long-term monitoring data, an international team of researchers has developed an SO2 camera to continually measure emission rates from volcanoes. They have now published an article about the camera design and two […]

Featured news

30 Mar 2023

Babies’ gut microbiome not influenced by mothers’ vaginal microbiome composition

By Deborah Pirchner, Frontiers science writer Image: Shutterstock.com Alterations in babies’ gut microbiomes during early life are commonly associated with negative health outcomes later on, including asthma and obesity. Gut microbiome alterations are frequently attributed to how a baby is delivered (birth mode). This gave ground to practices like vaginal seeding, aiming to expose babies born via C-section to their mother’s vaginal microbiome. Canadian researchers have examined this supposed interplay between infant microbiome composition and birth mode and found that mothers’ vaginal microbiome composition does not affect microbiome development of babies. It has been a longstanding assumption that birth mode and associated exposure of newborns to their mothers’ vaginal microbiome during delivery greatly affects the development of babies’ gut microbiome. To test the scientific validity of this assumption, a team of Canadian researchers has now published a study in Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology in which they examined the effect of maternal vaginal microbiome composition on the development of infants’ stool microbiome at 10 days and three months after birth. “We show that the composition of the maternal vaginal microbiome does not substantially influence the infant stool microbiome in early life,” said Dr Deborah Money, a professor of obstetrics […]

Featured news

29 Mar 2023

Lizards at US Army installation are stress eating during flyovers

By Mischa Dijkstra, Frontiers science writer Colorado checkered whiptail, Aspidoscelis neotesselata. Image credit: Carina Kusaka Scientists studied the response of an uncommon asexual lizard, the Colorado checkered whiptail, to anthropogenic noise at the military installation Fort Carson. They compared the lizard’s behavior between dates with and without flyovers by military aircraft. On flyover dates, the lizards showed a physiological stress response and spent more time eating and less time moving. These results suggest that the lizards deal with noise pollution by eating more to maintain the energy levels. Lizards may be small, with only a single hearing bonelet compared to our three, and without earflaps, but their hearing is typically good. Most lizards can hear frequencies between 100 and 5,000 Hz (although they are most sensitive between 400 and 1,500 Hz), compared to between 20 and 20,000 Hz in humans. So how do lizards react to noise pollution? Here, scientists studied the impact of noise from low-flying military aircraft on the behavior and well-being of an uncommon lizard, the Colorado checkered whiptail (Aspidoscelis neotesselatus). This was done at the Fort Carson US military Installation near Colorado Springs, where Apache, Chinook, and Blackhawk helicopters regularly fly over, and occasionally transport aircraft […]

Featured news

29 Mar 2023

The Norwegian Centre for Violence and Traumatic Stress Studies forms open access publishing agreement with Frontiers 

The Norwegian Centre for Violence and Traumatic Stress (Nasjonalt Kunnskapssenter om vold of Traumatisk stress – NKVTS) supports their authors in publishing open access. As part of this support, the Norwegian Centre for Violence and Traumatic Stress will cover Article Processing Charges (APCs) for eligible articles centrally for their eligible authors. As part of the Sikt Open Access Publishing Framework Agreement, NKVTS will benefit from a 10% partnership discount. Eligible authors are corresponding authors affiliated with the Norwegian Centre for Violence and Traumatic Stress. Information for authors: To submit your article under this institutional agreement, please select ‘NKVTS – Norwegian Centre for Violence and Traumatic Stress’ as institutional payer in the invoice section when submitting your article as the corresponding author. Frontiers will then verify your eligibility with NKVTS and if confirmed the discounted invoice will be sent directly to NKVTS for payment. For information on whether your article is eligible under this agreement, or if you require any further details, please contact Hege Eriksen at h.e.oswald@nkvts.no. For information on Frontiers’ institutional agreements please visit our institutional memberships page or contact institutions@frontiersin.org to discuss the possibilities for your organisation.

Featured news

27 Mar 2023

Shh! Intensive care incubators resonate sounds and risk damage to premature babies’ hearing, scientists say

by Angharad Brewer Gillham, Frontiers science writer Image/Shutterstock.com Although the effects of a noisy environment in the neonatal intensive care unit have been studied before, the effect of the incubators premature babies spend their first weeks or even months in has not. A team of scientists investigated, and found that while the incubators dampen some sounds, they amplify others, potentially damaging babies’ hearing. For vulnerable premature babies, an incubator in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is a lifesaver, but the consequences can last a lifetime. Many studies have shown that the NICU is a noisy environment and that babies who spend time there have higher rates of hearing impairment, which can lead to delays in language acquisition. Scientists from Vienna, Hamburg, Munich, and Osnabruck set out to investigate the role of the incubator, an underestimated element in the soundscape that surrounds babies during their time in the NICU. “The motivation of our multidisciplinary research team concerns the question: why many more premature babies suffer hearing impairments,” said Dr Christoph Reuter from the University of Vienna, corresponding author of the study published in Frontiers in Pediatrics. “We believe that what we have measured in our studies could be a leading […]

Featured news

24 Mar 2023

Frontiers’ Volunteers: February’s friendly competitions for good

Frontons wasted no time when it came to jumping back into volunteer activities at the start of the new year, even challenging colleagues to join them in doing good with some friendly competition. This month, we talk to journal launch specialist and Sustainability Network launch team member Hannah Kulmatycki and portfolio manager and production team member Vikki Davies about the challenges to start off 2023. Photo credit: Frontiers February Fashion Detox Frontiers’ Sustainability Network is an employee-run, volunteer-based initiative aimed at encouraging sustainable practices at both the individual and corporate level. Led by Frontons from across various departments, the network brings awareness to key issues that everyone faces and advocates for choices in line with Frontiers’ larger mission for enabling healthy lives on a healthy planet. The Sustainability Network organizes regular activities throughout the year, such as a guest speaker series, environmentally conscious events, and a monthly newsletter with helpful resources. The decision to hold a challenge at the beginning of the year took into consideration the factors many people face at this time of year. Photo credit: Marie Bubloz “We had just hosted our first speaker series event of 2023 on doughnut economics and the circular economy featuring Zohar […]

Featured news

23 Mar 2023

Oslo Metropolitan University forms open access publishing agreement with Frontiers 

Image: Skjalg Bøhmer Vold/OsloMet We are delighted to announce that Oslo Metropolitan University (OsloMet) supports their authors in publishing open access. As part of this support, eligible authors from Oslo Metropolitan University will benefit from a 10% partnership discount under the terms of the Sikt Open Access Publishing Framework Agreement. Information for authors: To submit your article under this institutional agreement, please select ‘Oslo Metropolitan University’ as institutional payer in the invoice section when submitting your article. Authors affiliated with OsloMet should use their OsloMet email address and be the corresponding author for their manuscript. Frontiers will then verify your eligibility with OsloMet and if confirmed, the discounted invoice will be sent to you via Oslo Metropolitan University library. If you are a faculty member seeking additional funding, you must apply at https://ansatt.oslomet.no/publiseringsfond and meet all criteria stated therein. For information on whether your article is eligible under this agreement, or if you require any further details, please contact ub.forskningsstøtte@oslomet.no. For information on Frontiers’ institutional agreements please visit our institutional memberships page or contact institutions@frontiersin.org to discuss the possibilities for your organisation.